Now Necco has reinvigorated the Haviland Brand. The chocolate company has a long history but for most of my childhood and early adulthood the company was owned by Borden (more history here) and most of the candy I saw from them was a kind of off-brand of chocolate comfort candies like Thin Mints, Bridge Mix, Non Nonpareils and fruit creams. Necco purchased the company in 1994 and aside from moving the factory, things pretty much stayed the same. But even with its sort of mousy look and mediocre positioning on store shelves, the price couldn’t be beat. The boxes of Haviland Thin Mints are often on sale for only $1.00. Yet I never bought them.

This year they really caught my eye though (I had the heads up from Necco folks a few months ago to look for them). Not only are the new Haviland Dark Chocolate Covered Thin Mints all natural, they’re also using 63% cacao. (And they’re Kosher but no statement on gluten on the package.) Sorry, they contain both milk and egg whites so they’re not vegan.

The narrow little box holds a brown plastic tray with the patties stored on their sides like vinyl albums. The tray is a bit flimsy and filmy but I admit that it does the job. It’s not really nice enough to serve from, like say an After Eight Mint Box, but they’re easy enough to take out and place on a plate. All 21 of my little chocolate disks were intact. The box has a little tab on the end that helps to close it up after serving.

The patties are 1.33 to 1.5 inches around and very thin. The minty center is somewhere between the crumbly York Peppermint Pattie and the gooey Junior Mint. The center has a little stringy pull when broken in half, but will stay put and not ooze like a Junior Mint.

The dark chocolate is creamy and sweet but still has a good bitter and roasted note to it. The mint center is strong and pleasant, not too much but enough to linger long after the candy is gone.

The regular price for the 5 ounce box seems to be about a dollar fifty but they’ve been on sale a lot with the Christmas merchandise. They’re a really good deal for a quality product. If you love York Peppermint Patties but have been avoiding them because they’re made in Mexico now, this might be the American company to support.

They also come in Raspberry and Orange which I’ve purchased but haven’t photographed yet.

I just had some of these the other day! They were exceptionally delicious. I liked their size a lot. It was more fun than eating a regular large size peppermint patty. I want to put some in the freezer and use them as hot chocolate garnishes.

mints looked like they were overheated and were lumped together. I could not read the code date, but that’s nothing new I bought some other candy at the same Walgreen’s on San Pedro in Albuquerque, only to discover they were outdated by one year. Same store had out dated Lipton tea and a few other items.

We love Haviland minutes and our last name is also Haviland.we love to but them for friends, family, coworkers but this year we could not find we could not find any within 20 miles of us. We still cannot find any available to buy, we are so sad this year!

I saw these at the store
this morning..I bought them
because it was a Necco
product..I bought 3 boxes.
I loved that they were dark
chocolate on the mints..
.My family loved them..
I never knew Necco made
these..These are the ones
that I buy from now on…
I am thrilled Necco sells
Thin Mints

It’s getting harder and harder to find these little guys in stores! They’ve been part of my Christmas since I was little, and everyone who receives them as gifts always loves them. Most CVS locations would always carry them, but maybe they’re sold out already this year. Now I see they’re going on Ebay for about 5x their original cost. Wish they were available in more retail stores!

Candyology 101 - Episode 35 - Whatchamacallit
In the latest Candyology 101 podcast, Maria and I tackled a little-celebrated candy bar, the Whatchamacallit. We’re also trying out a new format, which is a little shorter, like a handful of fun size candy bars! (more)

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All content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2019 by Cybele May

Please do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes.